Will They Let Us Down?
by Carol Molliniere
Summary: Mother Nature couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the disaster all around her. But it was real. (Spoilers and dark themes ahead.)
1. Mother Nature's Question

**Will They Let Us Down?**

**By: Carol Molliniere**

**A/N: Based on my reaction to the latest chapter of the Soul Eater Manga. Spoilers and dark themes ahead, and it contains an OC.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. WiS and her Protectors I own.**

* * *

"You've seen it too, haven't you?"

Mother Nature looked up at the voice on the Sun. Her face changed to a grim frown, and she nodded.

"The Grim Reaper is dead," she said. "And his son has taken his place. But the battle on the Moon is ever bleaker, and the forces of Shibusen are weaker and weaker, even with the new Reaper there with them."

"And the Man in the Moon is already insane," the Woman in the Sun reminded Mother Nature. "He has been insane for a long time; that is why his Moon Clipper takes on that appearance."

"And what of your Sun?"

"I'm fighting the last vestiges of madness seeping in. It's getting more and more difficult to keep it up, though…"

Mother Nature spotted the fragility in her voice. "Pitch already has the Fearling Prince he wanted. The Guardians have long given up, and they were replaced by Shibusen, fighting the demons and madness that Pitch and Asura have brought into the world. Your Protectors are losing their strength against the forgotten values of the world."

"So I told them to return to humanity as well," the Woman in the Sun concluded. "A horrible decision, I know, but it saved them from the fate of the Guardians. And then we trusted the world to the weapons and meisters of Shibusen."

Mother Nature looked back up at the Moon Clipper, once renowned and in glory. Now it was a face of insanity, sneering down on everyone. On that Moon a battle was going on, one to save the world once and for all. If they won, then Asura would lose. Pitch would lose. And the world would be at peace.

And if they lost…

"Will they let us down?" she asked herself.

* * *

**I haven't been this afraid to write a fanfiction since "Fear".**

**And I know, nothing makes sense. But I think that's how it would go if ROTG were incorporated with SE. (Be glad it's not.)**


	2. The First Nightmare

**(A/N: So, this really was supposed to be only a one-shot, but what with someone following this story and the idea coming to me all at once, I decided to make this a multi-chapter, showing what really happened to the Guardians before Shibusen took over the work of eliminating kishin eggs/kishins/Fearlings, until the next chapter of the manga comes and we'll know what really happened to Maka!**

**First part. I hope it's dark enough.**

**And I don't own anything in this chapter. Not even Pitch's liquid robe; it comes from ask-pitch's-wardrobe on Tumblr.)**

* * *

The darkness seemed to close in on him, a speck of white in all this black and grey. Drops of water leaked from the ceiling, from a crack which led to a leaking pipe. It added to the eeriness of the place he was held captive in, and all he wanted was to close his eyes and pretend this was all a nightmare.

But how could he pretend, he realized.

He never had a nightmare.

At least never one that existed in his head.

This could be classified as one he experienced in real life, as were many others.

His arms struggled to move against their bonds, only for his ears to hear clanking and shifting of nightmare sand. He closed his eyes, but did not sleep. He calmed himself. He would not give his captor the satisfaction of feeling his fear.

"So you're awake," a voice echoed, and his blue eyes opened. They darted around the room before settling on one particular shadow, a silhouette of someone he knew.

"I told you, Nightmare King, he would stay awake even if we capture him and take his home." Another voice said. Smooth and mellifluous, and you could have mistaken it for the voice of something good, though the captive knew it was anything but.

The two shadows came closer to him, until their faces took on profiles that he had seen before, on the battle on the Moon.

Pitch Black, and Kishin Asura.

Tsar Lunar's mouth became a thin line. He would not talk.

"Look at the poor man," Asura said, his skin scarves floating in the air near him, making him seem bigger, intimidating. "Are you comfortable there, little man?" MiM glared at him, his soft breathing the only sound coming from him.

"Leave him be, Kishin," Pitch told his comrade. "He's just acting haughty all because I failed to give him a nightmare when he was just a little baby. He thinks he's so important because he survived the explosion I should have died in, and became the leader of all his precious Guardians." Here Pitch stroked under MiM's chin, as if he were a chained dog. MiM moved his head away, but the devilish smirk never left Pitch's face.

It reminded him of the night before. The night which had started as MiM watching over the children of Earth and ending with a battle on the Moon, and Pitch won this time. He won and took MiM to Earth the same speed as a meteor falls to the ground. He won because the Kishin Asura was on his side.

He hoped the battle wouldn't go unnoticed by the Guardians.

"What's the matter, Lunanoff?" Pitch asked, scratching him behind the ears with unusually sharp grey fingernails. "Afraid the Guardians won't come in time to save you?"

"I'm not afraid of any of you." MiM declared. "Taunt me, give me nightmares, do whatever you want with me, but I swear, if you touch any of the Guardians, you will pay for it with your life."

"And how are you going to do that, locked up here like a caged parrot that won't stop talking?" Asura asked. "And even if you could touch us, I'm afraid one of the Guardians wouldn't do the same for you." He tapped his chin in thought, all three of his eyes blinking, before his mouth turned he sneered ear-to-ear. "His name was Jack Frost, I believe?"

MiM's eyes widened.

"Don't bring the boy into this."

The Kishin only smiled more. Found his weak spot.

"He almost went insane out of fear that you would never talk to him."

"I tried to reach out to him."

"You never believed in him."

"I love him with all my heart."

The scarves moved closer. "Maybe I could teach him a lesson?"

"Don't you even think about laying a hand on him!" MiM pulled on his chains even more, sprinkling more nightmare sand on his sleeves, dulling the white and turning them grey.

"We won't have to," Pitch said, and then moved away for MiM to look around for him. "You'll do the harming for us."

"I'll never do that for you. Never to the Guardians. Never to Jack."

"Never? That's too big of a promise to make, little man," Asura said, and MiM looked back to him, only to see nothing. He barely had time to react before scarves danced in front of him – or were those shadows?

"Or maybe you're imagining things. Such a sad, sad tale of insanity."

"Stop it." The ocean blue eyes suddenly lost their light.

"Maybe it is," and Pitch's black sand started to shift, "what if this was all just a nightmare? What if it's all in your head?"

"…Is it?"

He never felt the scarves move closer until they were stroking his face.

"It can't be. There's no way your nightmare sand would ever get close to the Moon."

"There is."

MiM's eyes widened.

"And I figured out how to do it."

Something pushed through his back, and then through his chest. MiM looked down to see an exact replica of Nightlight's staff going through his chest – only it was made of nightmare sand.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that, Tsar Lunar," Pitch said behind him, and then leaned over MiM's head to look him in the eye. Something liquid and black dripped onto MiM's head. It rolled down his cheek like a tear and fell on his chest.

"What…"

"You won't be there to stop it, old friend."

* * *

MiM's eyes popped open. It took him a moment to realize that he was sweating and panting and in bed. He sat up and looked around the room.

_Something was definitely wrong._

Nightmare sand shifted under the bed.

MiM moved to the side of the bed and looked under it. It was for only a split second, but he could have sworn that he saw something take the black sand away.

Something with three eyes on it.

The mark of Kishin Asura.

MiM inhaled sharply and did not go back to sleep.

* * *

Somewhere on Earth, beneath the full moon, Pitch grinned and was pleased with himself for taking sides with the almost-most powerful being on the planet.

"Very good work," he said to his new comrade, who was also hiding in the shadows with him. "Continue doing this until we have him in our grasp."

"More souls…to feed on…more power…" Asura said. He smiled from ear-to-ear, the same smile that MiM had seen in his dream. "I like it."

* * *

This was how the Man in the Moon began to have nightmares.

* * *

**(…What have I written?)**


	3. The Guardians' Gathering

**(A/N: How we doing so far? I hope everyone's enjoying this fanfiction. Even if it is kinda bleak.**

**I don't own anything you recognize. There are bits and pieces from the books thrown in here, so I don't own those too.)**

* * *

The Moon began to fall into discord after the nightmares started. The Moonbots and Lunar Mice didn't know what to make of it. The Lunar Moths tried to calm him by circling the Moon Clipper on nights like that, like they used to when he was a child. It helped for a short while, and sometimes MiM did get dreams, but it just wasn't the same.

He didn't know if the Guardians had already sensed that something was wrong. He hadn't told them himself what exactly had happened, and every once in a while his mind would drift to that one little lever that would send a moonbeam down to North, alert the Guardians, and tell them what was wrong.

_**F**_

But every time he reached out to push the button, he imagined something terrible. Something out of his nightmares.

_**E**_

Something would happen to his Guardians.

_**A**_

"_You'll do the harming for us."_

_**R**_

His finger steeled itself, and tried to push the button, but in the end he couldn't do it.

The balloons were his only retreat. Listening to the wishes of the children of Earth made him feel a lot better. Sure, there were the children who wished for something that Jack couldn't distract them from with his fun, something that Tooth couldn't bring back good memories to cheer them up with, something that Sandy or North or Bunny couldn't make them happy with their dreams or toys or eggs.

But he had the moonbeams shine on them and tell them to have faith.

It was all he could give them, even when he lost his.

* * *

The aurora borealis spread across the sky, summoning all of the Guardians.

Nightlight was the first to arrive, then Mother Goose following close behind, and then the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny would show up at the same time for some reason. Sandman would come flying in with his dreamsand-mode-of-transportation, and finally Jack Frost would fly in with the wind.

"Good to see you all here!" North greeted them all as they came in to his workshop, one by one, ignoring Bunny's irked calls and Sandy's pictures telling him that he was busy and Tooth's chatter to the fairies about teeth that needed to be collected.

"Especially you, Nightlight and Katherine," the jolly old man walked to hug and kiss them. "Ombric has not been too much trouble to you, I suppose?"

"Not really, but the darkness was," Mother Goose said, patting her goose Kailash on the head. "Nightlight and I had a hard time trying to protect the children from there. Pitch had indeed gotten powerful that time."

"Indeed." A muffled sound interrupted their talk, and turned to see who was trying to talk.

"Tooth, fingers out of mouth."

"Oh, sorry," she apologized, taking her fingers out of the spectral boy's mouth. "It's just been so long, and I needed to check if his teeth were alright." Jack, who had been looking at Kailash with the same fascination a child has, chuckled. "And I thought Tooth's obsession with my teeth was bad."

"Oh, I forgot!" North took Jack to Katherine. "This is Mother Goose, and that is Nightlight." At the last word he pointed at the spectral boy trying to fly away from the mini-fairies who wanted to see his teeth as well.

Jack nodded. "Well, I must say, it's, um, nice to meet you." He stuck a hand out, and Mother Goose accepted it. "Nice to meet you too, Jack Frost, and welcome to the Guardians."

"Alright, alright, we've got the introductions down, now let's get to business," Bunnymund took out an egg and began to paint it. "What is it that made you summon us all the way here to the Pole? You feel the Bogeyman in your belly again?"

"Maybe," North walked up to the Pooka, pointing a finger upwards to state his point, "may have something to do with Pitch." At this point, Tooth shushed her fairies, and they were quiet at the mention of the Nightmare King.

"What happened?" Katherine asked. North cleared his throat, and asked her if she had seen the Moon lately. She nodded, but said, "I didn't see anything wrong with it."

"It might seem like that to you, but look closer at this picture of the Moon weeks before," he pulled out on picture of the Moon, and then another one before continuing, "and then look at this one taken last night."

Nightlight's green eyes were the first to widen, and the moonbeam inside his dagger blinked, shocked. Katherine turned to him. "What is it, Nightlight?"

The spectral boy pointed to the picture of the Moon that was taken first, and opened and closed his fist in front of the others, which made it seem like a flickering light. He repeated this gesture several times, then pointed to the second picture of the Moon.

"What's he trying to say?" Jack asked, and Mother Goose looked closer. "I think he's trying to say that the Moon is slowly, gradually losing its light." "Losing its light?" Jack asked. "But why?"

"Must have something to do with Man in Moon," North said, setting the pictures down on a table. "Man in Moon would never do this thing deliberately, so I'm guessing something is wrong."

"Something's wrong, huh?" Bunny asked. "Well, why won't he tell us what it is?"

North tried to say something, but was interrupted by the moonbeam rapidly flashing. Nightlight held the dagger up to his face, and it glowed even brighter. If it had a voice, then this would have been its version of shouting frantically. The spectral boy looked shocked, and then turned to the other Guardians, the word slipping off his tongue as light as a feather and yet as heavy as a stone.

"Danger."


	4. The Sun Calls

**(A/N: More of the stories to go! Get them while they're fresh out of the plot bunny store! Sorry, it's so short, though; the next chapter will be longer, I can assure you of that.)**

**(I don't own anything or anyone you recognize.)**

* * *

"What?" Tooth asked. "How can the Man in the Moon be in danger? What happened?" Nightlight sadly shrugged. He didn't know what to do. How could he leave his charge like this? The spectral boy floated down to the railing where some elves were standing, and sat down on an empty spot, resting his chin in his hands and rocking his legs back and forth, trying to keep his staff on his lap.

The moonbeam shimmered again, trying to comfort him. _It's not your fault, Nightlight. Tsar Lunar would not want you to blame yourself._

_How can I not?_ Nightlight answered in the language of moonbeams. _I shouldn't have abandoned him in his time of need. How could I not see that he was in trouble?_

Before the moonbeam could answer, though, a ray of light shone into the workshop. Nightlight looked up, and so did the moonbeam – but it wasn't a fellow moonbeam. Instead, it was a sun ray.

Nightlight immediately jumped up and notified Mother Goose. She turned and saw the light, at which Kailash looked up as well and honked, getting the other Guardians' attention. Upon seeing the opportunity, Nightlight pointed up at the window.

"The sun?" Jack asked, covering his eyes from the blinding light. "Yeah, it's bright."

The spectral boy shook his head. It had to be something more than just a random beam of light.

"_Guardians."_ A female voice rang through the air, but only Sandy and Nightlight could understand it – the language of stars. They both stepped cautiously into the sunlight.

"Nightlight?" What is it?" Katherine asked. He turned around and told her to stay put while the female voice decided it was time to talk again.

"_You have seen it, right? What has become of the Man in the Moon?"_ Nightlight and Sandy nodded rather slowly. The light shined a bit brighter. _"You need to track down Pitchiner and the Demon God Asura before Tsar Lunar goes completely mad. Or else it'll be all over!"_

Nightlight nodded. He would save his charge at any cost. Sandy nodded as well, and then the light was gone.

All of the other Guardians stopped covering their eyes, and looked up. "What…what was that?" Bunny asked, kind of in a daze.

Nightlight picked up his staff that he had unknowingly dropped on the ground.

"Lady Solar."

* * *

**Headcanon 1: Nightlight is a star spirit (someone in the Golden Age who lives in harmony with stars).**

**Headcanon 2: Star spirits can look at stars' light and not get blinded.**

**Headcanon 3: Sandy is also a star spirit, because he was a shooting star pilot.**

**Alright, enough with the headcanons. It seems like Nightlight has something to tell the Guardians! How does he know the Woman in the Sun?**

**Next chapter coming soon!**


	5. The Woman in the Sun's Visit

**(This chapter is set somewhere before the last two ones, but I felt this needed to be added after those, because this would explain how the Woman in the Sun learned about MiM's condition.**

**I don't own anything except for WiS.)**

* * *

Lady Solar, the Woman in the Sun, was the one who had first noticed that the Moon's light was beginning to dim. It had been quiet at first, but it was soon becoming obvious as the Moon's shape was beginning to change as well.

So she flew over as fast as she could three times.

The first time, MiM was calm enough to have her, talk with her, and yet was hiding something beneath his smile; that she knew from the way the other Moon creatures and Moonbots were acting around him.

The second time, he appeared a bit more haggard, moon dust – or was that nightmare sand? – lining his once pristine white coat. His hair had grown longer than the last time, and she noticed he had bags under his eyes, and he seemed to be paranoid. Or was that just her?

He never seemed to lose the sparkle in his blue eyes, though. That was still with him from day one, since the first time they met.

This time was her third. She was worried about what he might look like now, his condition seeming to worsen.

Was the Man in the Moon going insane…?

No, she shook her head. No, that couldn't be it.

Could it?

She landed gently on the surface of the Moon, carefully trying not to burn the surface too much. One time she had visited and scorch marks had lined the wrecked Moon Clipper. Oh, well, at least the humans had been entertained with the images on the white orb in the sky. The most notable pictures they had seen, she heard, was a giant crab, a rabbit, and a face – that she could see too. It had always been there.

A Moonbot passing by saw her, and walked over with stiff movements, more stiff than usual – was it nervous about something? She ignored that feeling of anxiety again. Probably needed more oil in its joints.

"Lady Solar," it immediately recognized her, bowing a bit low. "Tsar Lunar does not wish to see you this day."

WiS tilted her head. "Why? What's wrong?"

"He has not told you, in order to stop you from worrying," it seemed to apologize, "but he has been having nightmares. There is no consoling him, aside from listening to the wishes of the children. Their young voices seem to bring him comfort."

She looked around. The whole atmosphere seemed tense. One of the Lunar Moths, usually fearless creatures, actually cowered from her. Her hands gripped her staff tightly. "If he's having nightmares, then I intend to see him, no matter what he says." She moved past the Moonbot, despite its monotone calls for her to stop; no other thing on the Moon stood in her way, though, afraid of her burning fire.

She walked to MiM's bedroom, not even pausing to take a breath, and knocked on the door. "Tsar?" she asked. "Are you in there?"

No response.

She pushed the door open, surprised to see it open, and saw at once what was wrong.

He was tossing and turning in his sleep, groaning and whimpering. His thin eyebrows were creased, and his lips were in a frown. Beads of sweat lined his forehead as he curled in on himself. She watched with shock, moving towards him quickly and yet not fast enough. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"Tsar! Wake up! It's just a bad dream; wake up!"

MiM's teeth clenched at the burning sensation, and his eyes welled up with tears before opening them, and he was relieved yet shocked to see her.

"…Lady? What are you doing here?"

She let go of him. "Why didn't you tell me you were having nightmares? I could have helped you, had you only told me. We need to talk about this, now."

"_You'll do the harming for us."_

"It's none of your business, Lady."

"What do you mean it's none of my business? Just because I would worry about you? I'm worrying even more, now that you don't want me to worry! What exactly do you want?"

"For you to stop worrying; I'm fine!"

"No, you're not! You never had a bad dream before, and the issue is making you different from how you were! You're not handling things properly!" She grabbed him and shook him again. "What's wrong with you? Don't you want to fix this whole mess and start over?"

"Yes, sir," a Lunar Mouse interjected, "you still have a bit of dreamsand left—"

"Stay out of this!" He yelled, and WiS let go of him, looking down at MiM.

There was a long silence, long enough for MiM to look around and examine the damage he had done. His blue eyes saw the scared Lunar Moths, the tense Moonbots, and the anxious Lunar Mice. But what was hardest to ignore were the golden eyes drilling into his eyes, Lady Solar's face turning into one of disappointment.

It reminded him of the face Pitch had shown him that night.

"_What have you done, Man in the Moon?" the Nightmare King asked in his nightmare. "Because of you, all that you have worked for will be lost. Your Guardians will die. And what of you? You will be your own downfall."_

"No," he muttered, shaking his head. looking for a place to hide from their stares, directed at their leader who had failed them. "No, no, no!"

He held his head and rushed out, past all of the Moon creatures and Moonbots, into the dark side of the Moon.

"Wait!" WiS called after him. "Tsar Lunar, wait!"

"Stop it, stop it!" He shouted, still holding his head, trying to get the darkness out of it, flinging his staff at nothing. "Stop it!" He bounded around craters, jumped over mountains, and placed a hand on a dreamsand machine that he didn't remember was there before, trying to calm his mind and catch his breath.

To his horror, though, all of the dreamsand inside the machine turned black the moment he touched it.

He gasped and took many steps back, looking around – looking for what? A threat? A friendly face? He didn't know.

He hit something, and then realized seconds later that it was a some_one_. MiM immediately froze when scarves wrapped around his hands and feet, and he struggled against them.

"What have you done, indeed, little man?" Demon God Asura whispered into his ear. MiM frowned at him out of the corner of his eye, and his hands clenched into fists, teeth gritting, arms trying to pull away.

"What did you do to me?" Tsar Lunar asked; panting after he realized that fighting his bonds was futile. "What did you make me into?"

"Why, I didn't do anything; you did that all on your own." The Kishin's mouth contorted into a grin, one that was unusually toothy and narrow as MiM's eyes widened. A tear fell, but because of the low gravity, it floated up into space, taking the sparkle in MiM's eye with it.

"Don't look so frightened, little man," Asura said, having another scarf cover MiM's mouth, turning his silence into muffled shouts for help.

"We're only here to help you."

* * *

WiS watched as MiM stood alone, yelling at nothing and no one. He looked afraid, angered, and sad. She took a few steps back, and without further hesitation flew back to her Sun.

_He's going mad._

She had to relay this message to his Guardians, who had just seen the signal of the aurora borealis and were gathering now.

She flew as fast as her fire could carry her.

* * *

**(It seems that something is stirring in the shadows! What are Pitch and Asura planning to do with MiM?)**


	6. The Last Nightmare

**(I'm back!)**

* * *

North's sleigh flew high into the air, rising above the skyscrapers at a breakneck pace, causing Bunnymund to freak out and wonder why exactly he was the one forced to ride the sleigh instead of taking the tunnels, while Mother Goose was free to ride Kailash. North's excuses that "the goose wouldn't fit in the sleigh" were still not enough to calm the Easter Bunny.

"So, just who exactly _is_ the Woman in the Sun, and what does she know about the Man in the Moon's condition?" Jack asked Nightlight. The latter looked up in surprise, having been in deep thought himself from the beginning of the trip (excluding North's crazy lift-off from the North Pole).

"Yeah, and why haven't we heard about this sheila before?" asked Bunny, who was currently and pathetically clinging to the side of the sleigh.

Nightlight looked from Jack to Bunny, and sighed. He didn't like having to talk often, but there were just some instances when he needed to.

"The Woman in the Sun, or Lady Solar, as some people tend to call her, is a being almost as old as the Man in the Moon. She watches over Earth much like Tsar Lunar does." The other Guardians listened intently as he continued, "Not many know for sure how she came to being, or why."

"So that means she's probably known quite a bit about the Man in the Moon for some time now," Tooth said. "Maybe she's warning us now because he's slipping over the edge."

"Which is why we need to get to Pitch and stop him." North finalized. Kailash finally matched the speed of the sleigh, and Katherine turned to look at North. "So, how do we plan on getting to Pitch? We don't know where his lair is, or how to find it."

"Is easy solution!" Santa Claus smirked and pulled out a snow globe, while a certain Pooka riding in the back groaned.

* * *

The ground of the Irish forest was soft and muddy this time of the year, so much that anyone could have guessed that the ground was very deep. As a matter of fact, one part of the ground was lower than the others, and that was what the Guardians were looking for.

Nightlight looked up at the crescent-shaped Moon hanging in the sky, its light dimmer than the moonbeam inside his diamond dagger.

"_Don't worry, little Lunanoff,"_ he said in his heart, _"I will do everything in my power to prevent you from falling."_

"Bunny! You have tunnels everywhere; won't you know if one hole in the ground isn't yours?" Jack asked, flying above the others with the Wind assisting him. Bunnymund sighed out of his nose as his ears shifted, looking for sounds. "I'm getting to it, mate!"

All of a sudden, Kailash stopped walking forward, and started to quack incessantly, causing everyone to stop and look at the giant goose, which was trying to get away.

"Whoa, whoa, easy, Kailash!" Mother Goose rubbed at its neck, trying to calm it down. "What's the matter?"

The goose turned its head in many directions, its webbed feet stomping on the ground. Katherine hopped off its back, and patted it. "Easy, easy there. What is it?"

Before she got a proper response, though, Kailash lurched to its left, and Katherine slipped, only to bump into wood right beyond a shrub.

Or, to put it specifically, a wooden post of a broken bed.

She turned around, and all the other Guardians gathered around it. Sure enough, there was a hole right under it. Jack knocked the wood of the bedposts, frosting them, while Katherine and North tipped their hats.

"So, this is where Pitch has been hiding all this time, huh?" Jack asked. "Probably," North said. "Perhaps it is time to break in. Right, Sandy?" Sandy nodded and punched his fist into his other palm, which made Jack chuckle.

"Alright, if you're that eager." With that, Jack jabbed the end of his staff into the broken frame. The old wood broke under a few good thrusts, and soon, the Guardians were making their way into the lair, a few crunches accompanying their footsteps.

However, the crunching was not from the broken wood or the ground underneath them; instead, it was from the crescent moon above them, where the man living in it would have his final bad dream.

* * *

Tsar Lunar saw himself in a dark void. The world had darkness seeping through it, and he couldn't stand the sight of it. He fell from the Moon Clipper, down into the Earth's atmosphere, and to the children he was protecting, as a Guardian.

His feet touched the ground gently, as if he were still on the Moon. He raised an eyebrow at this; wasn't the Earth supposed to have more gravity than where he lived? Then he shook his head; that didn't matter. All that mattered was keeping the children of Earth safe.

As he ran through the smoky haze, he wondered where the other Guardians were. Weren't they supposed to keep the shadows from getting this strong? Where was everyone?

MiM took a few steps back, his eyebrows creasing with every footstep. Something was wrong.

A whip flew out of nowhere and landed on his wrist, flinging him into the air and bringing him down hard on the ground. He groaned a bit before the whip swung through the sky and grabbed him again, this time wrapping around his leg, and throwing him on hard ground, one that was very cold and breaking under his weight.

_Ice._

"That is enough, Sandy," a Russian voice bellowed as more footsteps came to join him on the frozen lake.

A whip cracked, and more thin lines appeared on the ice. Out of the fog appeared shadowy figures; and as they moved closer, MiM recognized them to be his Guardians. But something was off about them, particularly the way even Nightlight was looking at him with a mix of disappointment and hatred.

"This is what you've become, Man in the Moon?" Bunnymund asked, tapping one of his boomerangs into his paw. "Giving in to the madness and even listening to what Pitch is telling you in your nightmares?" He laughed, coldly, and looked to all the other Guardians, as if they were laughing with him. "Can you believe this?"

"Even abandoning your post in the Moon to come down to Earth, where Pitch could overtake you easily? Seriously?" It was Tooth this time, putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head. MiM didn't know what to say, his lips forgot how to move and all that came out was a squeak.

"Pathetic," Jack Frost said, pointing his staff at the little man in front of them. "You wouldn't even talk to me before; and now that we have the opportunity, all that comes out is a little whimper."

"Such a person like you doesn't deserve to be a Guardian," the smooth voice of Nightlight finished, and he pointed his staff at his charge. "Which is why we have to kill you."

Now MiM had said before that he would never lay a finger on any of his Guardians. But now that they were going to slaughter him, he had no choice.

With absolutely nothing running through his mind, he raced forward and met North with his scimitars, fighting the larger man off with his moon-staff, while dodging Bunny's boomerangs and trying to stay out of the way of Sandy's whips.

One by one, he defeated them, all with almost no remorse, from simply snapping their necks to brutally stabbing them with their own weapons. He felt like he was bloodthirsty, wanting to see them die, but he didn't, and he couldn't understand it.

What was that feeling?

Jack was the last to go down, and he broke his staff, making sure that the ice wouldn't be able to hold their weight anymore. He saw the spider-web cracks on the ice, and tried not to look into the winter spirit's blue eyes that were almost like his own.

_I'm sorry._

Tsar Lunar swung the end of his staff down hard on the ice, and the ice shattered, causing Jack, as well as the other Guardians, to fall into the cold water, drowning them. MiM was the only one left standing, staring with horror at what he had just done.

"That suffocating feeling you have now, little man? That's fear."

He didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"You can let go now; that's enough. Let the madness carry you away, and you will be free from all fear and pain. Let go and everything you feel now will evaporate."

His teeth gritted together, yet his mind – broken and crushed as it was – was listening intently. His eyes looked across the cold waters, now turning red. Scarves danced behind him again, enticing him to join them in their insanity.

"There's nothing more you can do here. Your friends have fallen; trying to kill you…there's no point in continuing now. Everything you've done was for nothing. You have no one to stand beside you. Your body is weak and bruised; your heart even more so. There's nothing you can do now to defeat me, or the Nightmare King. You have _nothing left._"

"…Nothing…left…?"

"Yes, that's right. You have nothing, nothing at all."*****

His head was bowed, still looking at the red water, and remembering his Guardians' faces when he was brutally killing them all…why had he done that?

_**F**_

Why would he do such a thing, even if they did want to kill him?

_**E**_

They wouldn't, would they?

…They might.

_**A**_

Especially when he remembered how he had treated Jack; had not answered him all this time and had long given up on trying to say something. He was supposed to protect children, not abandon them and leave them to fend for themselves.

He didn't even try to stop the nightmares from coming, nor keep himself calm when the Lunar Mouse had spoken of the ability to. He lied to WiS all this time and never said a word to his Guardians about it.

Why had he done that?

_**R**_

"Have you made your decision yet?" Kishin Asura asked, putting his bony hands on MiM's shoulders.

Tsar Lunar only replied with a grin that was as narrow and as wide as a crescent moon.

* * *

The Guardians landed in Pitch's lair.

* * *

**(* - Based on Asura's speech from Ep 51 of the anime.)**

**(O.O**

**My, my, my…)**


	7. In Pitch's Lair

**(A/N: Alright, so what we got…No reviews yet? Huh.)**

**(I still don't own anything that's not mine.)**

* * *

They crept quietly into the dark halls, Nightlight and Sandy lighting the way with their glow. The rest looked for any sign of the Nightmare King and/or the Demon God, but none had popped up so far.

Remembering his past encounter with Pitch in this very place, Jack Frost made it a point to stay alert and focused at all costs. He didn't know what exactly they had up their sleeves (if Pitch had any sleeves), but it was enough to let him know that it was their supposed trump card.

Sandy too was very keen, keeping his whips at the ready for any sign of Pitch or Asura. He didn't want to die again, to give them the upper hand, to have his friends grieve all over again.

Suddenly Katherine felt that same unsettling feeling again. It was as if the very shadows were pulling at her heartstrings. Kailash sensed her discomfort, and moved closer, trying to protect its friend.

Out of nowhere, a shadow loomed over Nightlight, and his bright glow made it even more obvious. He pointed his staff at the source of the shadow, and the moonbeam flickered in distaste.

"Now, now," said Pitch. "I don't think we invited guests, did we?" He smirked and vanished again.

"Pitch!" Bunny cried out. "What did you do to the Man in the Moon?"

"What did I do?" he asked in his cold voice. "All I did was give him a dose of reality. Don't all recalcitrant children need a reprimanding?"

"He's being driven to insanity!" North pointed one of his scimitars at the King of Nightmares. "No child, naughty or nice, deserves that!"

"All according to plan," Asura said coolly, and Jack turned around to see the Kishin standing there. He fired an ice bolt at him, but Asura dodged swiftly and had the winter spirit's neck in seconds.

Sandy rushed over and tried to reach Jack using his whips, but all Asura did was catch it in midair. The Demon God then procedded to pull the Sandman towards him using his own scarves, grabbing the golden man's neck.

"It is enough, even for people like them. I am amazed." The other Guardians turned to see Asura standing calmly on another staircase in Pitch's labyrinth of a lair, looking amused. What had been attacking Jack and Sandy was actually a hallucination. And what of the two? Sandy was actually putting his tiny hands around Jack's neck, as if to strangle him, while Jack had the hook of his staff around the dreamweaver's neck, preparing to freeze his fellow Guardian – or what he thought was the Kishin.

"How easily you fall for that trick." Pitch sneered on the other side, in a large silhouette. "Now it's my turn to attack." With that, he crafted a scythe out of nightmare sand and swung. Tooth had blocked it with her swords, and then Bunny threw one of his boomerangs at the Nightmare King.

The fight had begun, with Pitch unleashing his Nightmares and Fearlings, and the Guardians landing blow after blow, with Sanderson and Jackson joining in after they came back to their senses.

"Insects," Asura said, grinning. "I like playing with insects."*****

All of a sudden, a red beam flashed through and hit the Guardians, bringing them to the ground. Nightlight was the first to stand after the blow, and then Moonbeam glowed in Asura's direction. The Kishin had a weapon sticking out of his mouth which he swallowed once again, sending it back into his stomach.

"That monster," Bunnymund muttered from behind the spectral boy. "He even ate his own weapon partner…"

Pitch raised up his scythe to strike a blow, but Sandy's hand was faster, and the Bogeyman was sent flying into a corner of his lair. The Sandman and Nightlight were quick to corner him, but this time Pitch melted into the shadows, leaving the Guardians to wonder where he had gone, only to realize a second later that Asura had disappeared as well, their laughs echoing through the lair.

"Come on out and face us, you cowards!" Jack yelled, brandishing his staff like a weapon.

At this, a shadow with three glowing red eyes crept up behind the winter spirit. "Face you I shall," was all he said before striking.

But the extended finger*** **was a tenth of an inch from even touching Jack's chest before something caused the ground to quake. A crackling in the sky! The roof above them opened because of the intensity, and the Guardians could all see plainly that the dull crescent Moon above them was breaking.

Pitch threw back his head and laughed.

"No," Nightlight screamed, "NO!"******

"Nightlight!" Mother Goose yelled out as her friend flew up to the skies, even as Pitch yelled at the same time, "It's no use, child!" with utter glee.

The Moon in front of him was crumbling even more, like a crushed cookie, like a stale circle of cheese. Nightlight kept flying on with tears in his pale green eyes, _oh, why had I allowed this to happen?_

The moonbeam grew agitated at the change of its master, and its home. That monster! It would kill Pitch by the time he was freed from this dagger—

—if it ever got the chance.

Pieces of the moon fell to earth, looking more like meteorites, reminding Sandy of the way he crashed into the ocean in a saddening way. The tides were becoming wild, drowning and flooding every person and every place it touched down upon on Earth. The Moon Clipper itself was taking on a more twisted shape, becoming more eerily yellow, and blood was starting to drip out of its mouth – the blood of fallen creatures on the Moon that once were.

A moon rock hit Nightlight, making him plummet to the ground hard in a part of the Irish forest further away from Pitch's lair. The way he was falling made the spectral boy remember how he and Pitch fell to Earth – only this time he was Pitch, falling against his will, all his thoughts for the future shattered.

The Moon was now a face, and not a friendly one anymore. It had the look of a dastardly murderer, one that had no guilt, no qualms. The light it gave was no longer one to chase away the darkness; it was the light that cast the darkness. The Guardians could only listen on as an evil laugh rang out through the night, as horrified children screamed, and fear resounded throughout the world.

It was the laugh of a once kind voice, of the shadow they could see so triumphantly standing on air in front of the eternally crescent Moon.

The laugh of the Man in the Moon.

"Now you will know everything, my children," he said, grinning the same way his war ship was, "everything about fear…"

"…And madness."

* * *

**(* - Based on weird Asura stuff from episodes 49 & 50.**

**** - Based on the part in the movie when Sandy died.**

**Next up is another poorly written fight scene, where the Guardians have to go up against the Man in the Moon!)**


	8. Fighting The Dark

The spectral boy groaned as he tried to push the rock off of him. His light flickered with every push, and his mind was racing – _what happened to my staff? Where are the others? Is that really the Moon I'm seeing?_

All he got was a dull pain in his stomach and the sight of a dark figure descending from the Moon.

_I'm sorry, little Lunanoff._

_I failed you._

This realization hit him hard, hard enough to make him want to stay where he was, lie down and close his eyes 'till it was all over.

But he could not! Nightlight began to resume pushing the rock off with renewed vigour. There was still a chance to save Tsar Lunar, and he would take it, no matter what he had to do.

With a loud grunt, he was finally able to move the rock, pick up his spear, and disappear in a burst of light.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Guardians were all shocked. How could they let this happen? Why weren't they fast enough?

On the other side, Pitch marvelled at this turn of events. The Man in the Moon, corrupted by madness, and he was finally his Prince of Nightmares. He clapped his hands in joy.

Asura grinned at everyone around him, a feast of souls just waiting to be devoured.

All according to plan.

Jack was first to act, calling the Wind to carry him in the direction of the shadow of the Man in the Moon. He swung his staff, causing it to shoot out frost and ice. All this MiM deflected with his own staff, and then proceeded to fly further down and strike Jack, knocking the staff out of the winter spirit's hand and sending him plummeting to the earth.

"Jack!" Tooth yelled out as he crash-landed after falling into some tree branches, catching his staff a little too late. She immediately zipped over to help him up. "Are you alright?"

"Such a weak and useless child," MiM stared down at Jack. "It makes me wonder why I chose you for a Guardian. Well," he shook his hand as if to alleviate the ache that he got from punching Jack, "it doesn't matter in these circumstances, now does it?"

"You demons," Tooth muttered, looking around at the dark shadows they were fighting. "Excuse me, but I prefer _Demon God_," Asura said as he moved to grab her with his scarf, and threw her to the ground.

"What?" Bunny asked as he threw his boomerangs at the Fearlings that were beginning to surround them. "And you expect us to bow to you?"

The Kishin only smiled. "You might want to duck."

Before the Pooka could comprehend, a scythe made out of black sand swung at him, sweeping him to one side of the lair, making a crater in the wall. He grimaced at the pain, and Pitch kept his creatures of darkness coming at the Guardians.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light streaked across the sky, towards Tsar Lunar.

"That brat again," Asura said, seeing that it was Nightlight yet again.

"Tsar Lunar!" the spectral boy cried out, the moonbeam flickering at the sight of its former master. "Cease this immediately! Remember who you are!"

MiM seemed to hesitate for a while, but then blocked Nightlight's path with his moon staff, his mouth turning into a thin line. "I know who I am; I don't need you to remind me!" he said, swinging his staff and pushing Nightlight back, but Nightlight was at it again, and soon they were fighting in the air, while the other Guardians were on the ground, busying themselves with Pitch and his darkness.

Katherine worried for her friend in the sky, and wondered if he would be alright – the feeling of dread in her gut would not go away, no matter how she tried to push it away. Nevertheless, she got as involved in the fight as much as possible.

Jack was fighting intensely, clearly vowing not to lose. Not to Pitch, or to the Bogeyman's ways. He kept alert once again, trying not to hallucinate again. If they were held back by even a second, then they would fail not just the children of the world, but also all humankind.

Bunny and Tooth got back up on their feet, and then they were fighting viciously, giving the Guardians the upper hand, with some of the mini-fairies assisting them as well, as were the yetis, elves, and sentinel eggs. Kailash put up a fight of its own, stamping upon the Nightmares and dissolving them into nightmare sand.

MiM and Nightlight were evenly matched in the sky; none of them was stronger than the other. Nightlight tried to touch MiM, to cleanse him of the corruption, but MiM would not let the spectral boy touch him, knowing well of the effects.

Sandy caught Pitch going to the air, probably to finish off Nightlight, but the golden man threw his whips at the Nightmare King, catching his attention, and they were just as evenly matched when they battled.

And what of the Kishin?

He was planning to change all that.

* * *

Somewhere, in front of a mirror, a cloaked reaper shifted.

* * *

The Woman in the Sun waited.

* * *

Asura moved swiftly, trying to get off the ground. He moved with his scarves as high as he could, propelling him into the night sky. None of the Guardians seemed to notice this, and neither did Pitch.

Suddenly he was in front of Mother Goose, and she had no choice but to attack him as best as she could. She swiped at him with her dagger (which was the only weapon she had on her), while he dodged with ease. One of his scarves grabbed her hand, and lifted her off the ground, and then his weapon popped out of his mouth.

A red beam fired at her.

"Katherine!" North's loud voice called her.

"Katherine! Snap out of it; it is only illusion!"

She looked down at herself, and realized that she was holding her right hand, which was trying to stab her with her own dagger. Mother Goose blinked as she realized she had been hallucinating, and that the Kishin wasn't there.

_But if he wasn't there, then where—?_

She looked up, and her grey eyes widened in horror.

Asura was near the Moon, suddenly overtaking MiM and was in front of Nightlight.

"Die," he said as he straightened his hand, preparing to strike.

Katherine could only watch as Asura stabbed Nightlight with his hand, the spectral boy's pale green eyes wide.

* * *

**(…Yes. That last scene was based off 110. Apparently I imagined Asura would try to kill Nightlight the same way he would try to kill Maka, and apparently I was evil enough to toss in that headcanon. *hides in a corner*)**

**(*mumbles from corner* I don't own Chapter 110 of Soul Eater...or ROTG/GOC...sorry...)**


	9. With A Flickering Light

The world around them was silent as the Guardians processed what had just happened. More blood poured out of the Moon's smiling mouth, a smile that clearly reflected the one of its inhabitant.

Asura pulled his hand out of Nightlight with a sickening crunch, and that was when Katherine screamed.

The spectral boy plummeted to the earth, his light flickering, his green eyes wide with fear – but it was not fear of death; it was the fear of failure, and his great desire to live could not overcome it.

Pitch laughed as well, but Asura did not, and that made it all the more unnerving to Nightlight's dying sense of hearing. The Kishin simply flicked his hand back, Nightlight's blood spattering mostly on the ground, yet one drop of red dripped on Katherine's cheek. It rolled down her face like a tear and fell onto her chest.

"_Bozhe moy_…" North muttered, staring at Nightlight's unmoving body.

Mother Goose ran over to the spectral boy and bent down, holding his hand, screaming his name, but he would not respond. The Guardians were watching this scene silently before the storyteller finally quieted down, closed his eyelids and took away his green eyes for the last time, and shed the final tear.

Kailash moved closer to its friend, sensing her sadness. Mother Goose put a hand on its neck before mounting the Snow Goose, and they took off like a rocket towards Tsar Lunar.

"COME ON AND FACE ME, YOU COWARD!" she yelled.

Hearing her pained scream, he jumped out of the way, but Kailash turned around, and Katherine leapt out, catching MiM's throat and falling – but then Kailash caught them. Without warning, Katherine grabbed his collar and then proceeded to make him her personal punching bag, fury etched on her face and in her very grey eyes.

But was it something more than rage…?

"This is bad," Tooth said as she sliced some Nightmares. "Katherine has become so overwhelmed with her grief that she's open to the madness!"

"It is very obvious, Tooth; you do not need to point it out!" North retorted, fending off the Fearlings with his scimitars. He looked around at their assistants. Yes, they _were_ doing a fine job, but the shadows just kept coming – there was no end to their multiplying. There was something else driving them, not just Pitch's strength.

A red beam shot through the air. It was headed for Sandy, who had his back turned; but Jack was faster, and shoved Sandy out of the way in a matter of miliseconds. The blow to his feet had not been mortally injuring, but it was enough to bring Jack to the ground.

The winter spirit groaned. Everything hurt, especially his legs.

An exclamation point formed over Sandy's head, and then he rushed over to Jack, helping him up. Jack saw the exclamation point turn into a question mark, and then nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright," he said despite the pain.

MiM kicked Katherine in the stomach, releasing her grip on him, and then swung his staff so that he knocked the storyteller overboard. He jumped off Kailash as it took a steep dive to rescue its friend, while he landed in a tree.

Once again, Kailash had caught Katherine with its beak, and then put her on its back. Its passenger stared angrily at the little man standing in the branches of a tree. She hated that smiling face; oh, how she would love to stain it with red, to kill—

Her grey eyes widened as she caught herself. What was she thinking? She wouldn't kill anyone, much less the Man in the Moon, even if he was insane. He was still their leader, he was the one they came for, he was the one whom Nightlight died for. And most of all, he was not the one who killed Nightlight.

He still had a chance.

"Tsar Lunar!" she called. "Please listen to me! What you're doing is wrong. Stop it and come back to your senses! We can still fix this."

What Mother Goose had not seen, though, was the little creature that had mysteriously appeared on MiM's shoulder, whispering into his ear,

"_Don't listen to her."_

"_They're only here to kill you."_

"_Not one of them trusts you."_

"_They only want to get rid of you."_

'Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" MiM screamed, jumping towards Katherine and swinging his staff at her, the hit sending her to the ground, where he landed on his feet. "I don't want to hear your lies, or the truth, I don't want to hear your laughter or your tears, and most of all—" here he pointed his staff at Jack, "I'm tired of hearing what you say and not be able to do anything! I don't want to make you feel like I'm being apathetic anymore! I don't want to watch you walk away without hearing what I have to say! I don't want to know that I can't hear you, all the way on the Moon!" *****

He sunk to the ground, blue eyes wide, holding his head in his hands. The other Guardians watched him, Jack most of all. They had no idea how much the MiM was jaded, not even the tiniest notion of it – but then again, which of the people of the Earth would know about what the Man in the Moon really felt?

MiM sniffled, and then his lips were set into a thin line.

"That's why I have to kill you all."

He took up his staff, stood up, and looked to the sky.

And then he laughed.

Suddenly, the moon-staff hooked itself around Jack's waist, and he was flung across the lair, into a wall. The impact had been so massive that a crater had formed where Jack had hit the concrete, and he gasped in pain, falling over.

"Jack!" Tooth yelled, and tried to fly over, but then Nightmares attacked her, and she was unable to get to him.

Jack Frost winced as he tried to get up, but then a Fearling popped up in front of him, and snapped its jaws at him. He grunted and shot ice bolts at it, but then he learned that he was surrounded by Fearlings, and that his body was still injured.

"Crap," he cursed as he backed up against the wall, trying to keep them away with his frost, only to have more approach. His blue eyes scanned around him, and all he could see were them, trying to devour him. Wanting his soul.

Jack kept them away as best as he could, but he knew he was trapped.

* * *

**^ - "My God" in Russian, according to Google Translate. Yes, I'm useless.**

*** - Sound can't reach the Moon from the Earth. It only stops at the Earth's atmosphere – that is, if you don't have a fancy device to talk to MiM with or something. Doesn't explain how Sandy was able to talk to MiM in his picture book, though. Maybe it's because of the moonbeams relaying messages to and for Manny in the most synchronized way possible. He takes a lot of time with his responses, apparently. And also because the Moon was much closer to Earth by that time. However, the Moon moves further away from the Earth by 4 cm every year, so it must be harder and harder to communicate with Earth, even with the moonbeam system. It probably caused the lack of communication with Jack; and as much as I love Jack and would like to defend him in every way possible if Manny really was just ignoring him, let's all remember that Jack is not very patient when it comes to the Moon answering him, even for 300 years. How long did he stay on Jamie's roof when he was talking to MiM in the movie before flying off? Ten, fifteen seconds after each question?**

**Enough with the science explanation. (And don't even get me started on WiS; we only have so much time for rants.)**


	10. That Gets Dimmer And Dimmer

One of the Fearlings bit Jack, and he yelped, trying to get it off him, gripping his staff tightly. "Wind!" He frantically called. "Help!"

The Wind seemed reluctant at first, but blew away all the shadows except the one that was clinging to Jack. Its poison seemed to slowly seep into his veins, and he winced at the pain, waving his arm to get it off, and finally touching it with his staff, freezing it. He grabbed the frozen Fearling and broke it off, throwing it to the ground, where it shattered.

"Are you alright, Jack?" Katherine flew over on Kailash, looking him over. Jack nodded, despite the pain travelling up his arm. He looked to the sky, where Sandy and Pitch were fighting, along with MiM currently fighting off North and Bunny, all as fast as lightning, while Tooth and the Guardians' assistants (except for Kailash) took on Pitch's minions.

"Where's the Kishin?" Jack asked, holding up his staff, looking around. Mother Goose took up her dagger as well, and then caught the sound of something firing, and both she and Jack managed to dodge the red beam in the nick of time.

They both looked in that direction, where the Kishin had shot them.

"That's where he is," Mother Goose said with a cold unforgiving tone.

With anger, Jack and Katherine flew up to Asura. He saw them coming and created a barrier, stopping the interfering ice bolts. The winter spirit grunted, and then his blue eyes widened as Vajra popped out of its meister's mouth, ready to fire another blow.

They narrowly dodged the red shooting at them, and emerged from the smoke ready to face him – but the Kishin was gone. "Where'd he go this time?" Jack asked himself, and then felt something wrap around his ankle. He barely had time to react before he was tossed around like a rag doll, and then lowered to the Kishin's face, his pale skin battered and bruised.

"Your soul…" Asura said as he examined Jack, "…is very powerful…" He lifted a hand to grab Jack, and Jack struggled against the scarves holding him in place, trying to break free, to do something—

An explosion of blue and ice sparked out from the winter spirit while he screamed, and then he shot it at Asura, not noticing that black became part of the explosion. It hit its mark dead-on, the impact throwing Asura to the ground.

Soon enough, Jack was hurtling towards the earth, tired from the blow, the pain coming back up from his arm, and his mouth hung wide open in pain.

"JACK!" he heard a female voice yell – Tooth or Katherine? – and then someone caught him with strong yet soft arms, covered in downy feathers – most definitely Tooth. The Tooth Fairy then proceeded to gently lower him to the ground.

"Are you alright?" she asked, and then Jack winced. Dear _Moon_, that hurt. He gasped, unable to move.

Meanwhile, the Kishin's laugh resounded throughout the forest while he pushed himself back up with the widest grin on his face. "It will take much more than that to stop me, foolish Guardians!"

Pitch momentarily looked down at the black ice from the explosion that had fallen near his feet. He had seen that same kind of ice before, that day in Antartica—

"_What goes together better than cold and dark?"_

He smirked.

Hail was beginning to fall on the forest, hitting everything and everyone without mercy. The hailstones grew larger and larger and ripped branches off of trees. The Guardians looked down at Jack, who was writhing on the ground, his eyes now wide open and his hands were jittering. His staff clattered to the ground, losing its bright blue glow.

"Jack!" North yelled. "What is happening?"

"Frost, snap out of it!" Bunny shook him, but the winter spirit could not answer, for his vocal cords were frozen. Something was reacting _inside of him_, and he was trying to fight it, but it was strong and persistent and did not subside.

Pitch, having already knocked the distracted Sandman to the ground, and then raised his hand. Without warning, the pain in Jack's arm seared all the way to his neck and breastbone, and he whimpered, unable to scream.

Sanderson watched his friend suffer, and then he pushed himself off the ground, forcing himself to get on his feet. He had to stop Pitch and save Jack!

"_Pitch,"_ the dreamweaver glowered in his thoughts, _"you will fucking__*****__ pay!"_

He looked to his left, and saw Nightlight's fallen staff, with the moonbeam alerting him to attack. Sandy nodded, and picked up the spear before breaking the string that attached the dagger to the former tree branch, taking the diamond dagger and flying up to the Nightmare King.

* * *

**(* - Had to cuss. Sandy's just so mad right now.)**


	11. The Cloaked Reaper

**(I'm back, people! And thank you, Prussianess, for the helpful review.**

**Seriously, though, I feel like I'm being a little redundant with the action here. So I'm gonna toss in something a little more.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.)**

* * *

Dreamsand whirled around the Sandman as he flew towards Pitch, ready to strike him with the diamond dagger. The moonbeam's glow was just as bright, ready to chase the darkness away and put an end to this nonsense.

But before Sandy could even get within two feet of Pitch, something metal swung across his neck, nearly breaking it and throwing him back down to the ground. The moonbeam flashed, recognizing the source.

"Trying to be a hero, Sandman?" Tsar Lunar asked as he tapped his staff into his hand.

Sanderson exhaled – it would have been a grunt if he had a voice to grunt with.***** He looked up at MiM with tired and angry eyes, then to Jack, who was still struggling to take control of himself, then at Nightlight's lifeless body.

Sandy's face finally set into anger.

_Must be stopped._

He conjured one of his whips in one hand, and held the dagger tightly in the other. Then a cloud of dreamsand carried the Sandman into the sky.

"Jack! Snap out of it!" Tooth shook the winter spirit, but he could only scream. For one split second though, he opened his eyes, and what he saw for one split second was the Nightmare King sneering at them, the Guardians that were slowly losing. The Nightmare King was sneering at _him_.

All of a sudden, a burst of anger rushed through Jack, overcoming the pain, and he felt himself stop shaking. His hands took up his staff once more, and it glowed again – but this time, it glowed a dark blue. His eyes turned yellow, much like the Fearling that had bitten him.

The Wind carried him away, in the direction of the Bogeyman. He fired more black and shadowy ice shards at Pitch, and the latter deflected them a split second before they hit him.

He cackled. "So, Frost, how does it feel like to be part of the darkness?"

Jack hovered a good ten feet away from Pitch, replying in a low growl, "It makes me feel like I want to kill you."

"Ah, a little rebel; what a perfect little shadow you'll make!" Then Pitch raised his scythe, ready to fight.

Katherine stared at everything around her. The feeling of dread inside her had only intensified ever since they got into this situation. If only they had something to turn the tables…

"Enjoying the view, storyteller?" someone asked, and she turned swiftly to see the Kishin. They stared at each other for some time – Mother Goose looking cross, and Asura looking amused.

"Not for long." He smirked, and his weapon appeared out of his mouth again, sparking red. A blast fired almost immediately, and she lowered her head, preparing for the blow.

Which never came.

Katherine opened her grey eyes, scanning herself for any kind of injuries, and then looked up at what everyone else was staring at.

_Black_ was the first thing her observant mind processed. The dark cloak billowed in the mellow breeze – the Wind had suddenly become silent – and she noticed that claw-like hands protruded from it, gripping a scythe with a wooden handle and a metal blade. A skull accounted for the figure's head.

The word "DEATH" was etched into one of his arms.

Asura scowled.

"What are you doing here, Lord Death?" he asked. "This isn't your fight."

The Grim Reaper waved a hand to Nightlight. "Now it is," he said in a deep, gravelly voice. "And it was always my business when you started breaking all the rules I set in place and disrupted the balance."

"You call this balance?" Asura looked to the Guardians. "Hasn't anyone told them that the lights are starting to go out?"

"What?" Katherine muttered. But before she could ask anything else, or even turn to look at Pitch, a sharp, draining pain started running through her – and the other Guardians as well.

Jack's eyes turned back to blue, and he shook his head, wondering what had just happened. All he remembered was a strong gust of wind, and then anger, and—

He felt himself drop to the ground, the Wind unable to carry him even while he was holding his staff. The winter spirit fell onto Bunnymund, who felt the effects of the children losing belief and was starting to shrink.

Lord Death turned to face the Kishin, holding up his scythe.

"So be it," he muttered, barely above a whisper, straightening his claw-like hand.

"SHINIGAMI CHOP!"

The blow was brought down full force, hitting Asura right in the face, throwing him down to the ground. A crater formed, and Jack stared on despite the pain rushing through his body. "Whoa…" he muttered in awe.

"Of all people," Pitch muttered to himself, "I did not expect the Grim Reaper himself to intervene." He held his scythe. "Nevertheless, he's a bother and a threat to my plan." He vanished into the shadows, preparing to strike a blow.

Asura laughed maniacally, raising himself up from the ground, with only a bleeding nose to show for an injury. He wiped the blood away, and said, "Is that all you can do to me? Is that all you're really capable of at this moment?"

The death god looked down at the kishin, at who was supposed to be his enemy, and grunted. "I could do more than that, if you listened to my reprimanding." He wanted to add something else, but he had to spare himself the pain if he could.

"Well, that's not much of an answer, now is it?" Asura grinned. He moved his hands, as if he were chanting an incantation without spoken words. Then a circular red rune formed in front of him, as if it were a force field. Three red eyes appeared onto it, blasting red beams at the god of death. These Lord Death dodged swiftly, and the only things he got that were close to wounds were distortions of his cloak.

"Now the fight is really starting," MiM noted with a hint of amusement in his voice.

* * *

**(So I wanted to put more in there, but I had to cut it, because I was pressed for updating time [Do I look like the kind of author who wants their readers to wait a whole year for the next chapter? Really? I do?]. That and it would sound better in the next chapter.)**

**(Can I have a slice of reviews? Please?)**


	12. The Last Minute

**(All these chapters for one fight scene? Gawsh. The Guardians have been fighting Pitch and Asura since Chapter 7!**

**(Then again, it's not a far cry from the Soul Eater manga, what with the battle on the Moon and all. You all have been so very [heartbroken] updated on Chapter 112, right?)**

**(Anyway, I don't own this stuff. Just OCs and the story.)**

* * *

Lord Death spun his scythe around in his hands, and then lunged forward, trying to land a blow on Asura, but the Kishin was quick and agile and dodged clearly each time.

Sandy wanted to help Lord Death, even with his waning strength, but MiM was brought to his attention again, and he knew that he couldn't drag out their fight, what with him becoming affected by the lack of belief, even though being the Guardian of Dreams, he was affected less quicker than the other Guardians.

He wished that they had time…that they could get this finished and that he could give dreams to the children that would comfort them and restore their belief…

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack noticed a few elves being tossed around by the Fearlings like rag dolls. The assistants of the Guardians were putting up the best fight that they could, but, Jack noted with dismay, the Fearlings and Nightmares were getting stronger, taking down the helpers without mercy. Kailash flew about, trying to lure the Nightmares away from their prey of Tooth's mini-fairies-

Mini-fairies?

A deep, unsettling pit that had formed in his gut was already being quickly filled with terror.

"Baby Tooth!" Jack exclaimed, getting to his feet and searching for the unique mini-fairy. His legs suddenly ached all over again, and he had to prop himself up on his staff. He clenched his jaw, trying to stay strong. Was that sweat on his neck, Jack wondered - he rarely ever felt hot.

* * *

Having less believers than the rest of the Guardians, Mother Goose felt more strained than ever as she struggled to keep her eyes open, and to stay awake. The feeling of dread was overwhelming her now, leaving a fear of death and a desire to live.

She looked around her, searching for Kailash, and also to examine the battle around her. Jack looked frantic, calling out a name over and over again that she couldn't hear. She saw the shadows overwhelming the helpers of the Guardians, and then she saw Kailash leading Nightmares away from the mini-fairies.

"Kailash!" Katherine called. Seeing its friend, Kailash complied, and flew down, but the Nightmares came with it. The storyteller gasped in air as she tried to climb up the snow goose's back, but it was only until Kailash pulled her up with a nudge of its wing that it was able to fly away, avoiding an attack from the Nightmares in the nick of time.

Looking over the entire battle, Katherine realized something.

"...Where's Pitch?"

* * *

Lord Death and Asura battled fiercely, totaling a large fraction of the forest, none willing to surrender. The scythe had hit Asura only once, but a Shinigami Chop was enough to bring the Kishin to the ground.

While getting up, something tugged at one of Asura's scarves, possibly trying to get him to go away. He looked to see that it was one of the Tooth Fairy's helpers trying to pull him away in vain. He flicked it away, but this one was persistent and flew towards him.

Scowling, he raised his scarf, and threw it down onto the mini-fairy - only for it to freeze about a tenth of an inch away from its target. He looked at where the mini-fairy had flown to, on the shoulder of a certain winter spirit.

"Don't you ever lay a finger on Baby Tooth again," Jack growled, and Baby Tooth chirped threateningly.

Asura moved to strike Jack, but then a scythe blade swung out of the corner of his eye and then he was battling Lord Death again, dodging the reaper's blows.

Katherine flew towards MiM, holding up her dagger, preparing to strike him. She was so caught up in the moment that she nearly forgot about the Nightmares following her and Kailash. One of the dark horses nipped at Kailash's tail feathers, prompting Kailash to honk in pain and fly faster away, which led to Mother Goose missing her aim and instead merely scratching MiM, who became angrier.

He commanded the Nightmares to attack, swiftly and without mercy.

Soon, both Sanderson and Katherine were caught in the middle of a storm of black sand horses, and Sandy immediately remembered that cloudy night where he was trapped and then there was an arrow and _it hurt_-

Katherine, however, had come up with a plan of attack that very moment.

"Sandy," she called to the Sandman, "give me the diamond dagger!"

Sandy looked to Katherine, and judging solely by her knowing smile, he passed her the diamond dagger and swiftly unleashed both his dreamsand whips, diminishing the surrounding Nightmares to harmless dreamsand, and making a way for Katherine to escape.

A more blinding pain seared in her heart, and she buried her face in Kailash's neck, trying to soothe herself with the downy feathers of the Snow Goose. It didn't help at all, and soon she felt Kailash rear up to dodge a scarf flying at a certain grim reaper. She regained a proper hold in the nick of time - but not on the dagger.

It began falling to the earth, seemingly in slow motion in the storyteller's eyes - but she wasn't about to give up yet, and turned Kailash around to fly towards the falling dagger, reaching her hand out to try to catch it. The moonbeam inside it glowed brightly, dissipating all the Fearlings that tried to scratch at Mother Goose and Kailash and reducing them to dust.

With that, she saw one shadow dart from one place to another, avoiding the light, moving closer to Lord Death's cloak.

She immediately knew who it was.

The pain in her skyrocketed, and Katherine fumbled to get to the diamond dagger, the moonbeam flickering, urging her to catch it. Her hat flew off as her fingers wrapped tightly around the handle of the dagger, and Kailash flew back up towards the sky.

The moonbeam smiled at Katherine.

_"Thank you."_

Katherine's grey eyes gleamed with resolve as she spotted the moving shadow again.

"Don't thank me yet!" she said as Kailash, having spotted it as well, flew towards it.

* * *

Asura and Lord Death kept their attentions to each other, fighting as best as they could. The shinigami had to keep the kishin away from the Guardians, to keep them from getting distracted by Asura's insanity or becoming targets of the Demon God's blows. Asura, on the other hand, was keeping Lord Death away from helping the Guardians by becoming as invincible an opponent he could be, leaving the spirits to be overwhelmed by the shadows and the sheer pain of not being believed in.

And the kishin was almost glad that Lord Death didn't notice the shadow move in the trees.

A certain metal _swoosh_ caught the reaper's ears, and he blocked the incoming weapon with his scythe, then he turned to face his attacker.

"What happened to you, Man in Moon?" Lord Death asked, seeing the look on his old friend's face - not one of kindness anymore, but of madness. The sparkle that had once been in his eyes was far, far gone.

"What happened to me is that I've become stronger," MiM replied with a small smile. Lord Death's eyes narrowed under his mask. "You were strong enough, long before you started having nightmares. What convinced you otherwise?"

MiM did not answer, for he remembered clearly his last nightmare.

_"Such a person like you doesn't deserve to be a Guardian."_

_"Everything you've done was for nothing."_

"Such a great creation, was he not?" Asura sneered. "Succumbing to my madness. Guess you won't have too long to enjoy the sight, though." With that, Vajra popped out of his mouth, and fired red beams at the reaper, no matter which way he dodged. In fact, Asura fired so recklessly that one of them even hit MiM, and he fell to the ground.

Jack stared at the spectacle. And then Baby Tooth chirped, spotting something in the sky.

"Mother Goose?" he asked, seeing the familiar woman, who now beginning to fade.

* * *

Pitch appeared out of nowhere as Lord Death was cornered. He came so quietly that maybe Lord Death had not heard him at all - or maybe was too busy with Asura to react.

Either way, the Bogeyman was now readying his scythe, ready to strike.

And everything was in slow motion again.

The nightmare sand scythe lowered...

The snow goose flew over the spectacle...

The Guardians looked up as the Moon was blocked...

A figure jumped from the snow goose, a burst of pure and bright light accompanying it.

It was Katherine.

* * *

Pitch suddenly felt something penetrate his back. He didn't have to look over his shoulder to know what was there.

He laughed.

And then the explosion came just as Mother Goose's last believer stopped believing.


	13. Aftermath

**(A/N: Trying to update before the last Soul Eater chapter comes out. *sobs*)**

**I own nothing. Otherwise I wouldn't be rushing to post this chapter. Or the chapter after that. And…well, you get the idea.**

* * *

He groaned wearily as he opened his eyes. The first sight to greet his eyes was the look on Asura's face, as if he were backing away from something or someone. His vision cleared a little, and then he could see that the Kishin was indeed cornered.

And by who else but the Guardians and Lord Death.

(Or what was left of the Guardians.)

"There's nowhere to hide now, Kishin Asura," Jack Frost said, looking as threatening as the winter spirit could ever be, black and blue sparks emitting from his staff. As he was talking, snow had started to fall.

"No," Asura muttered, "no, this wasn't supposed to happen!" His scarves twitched, waiting for an opportunity to strike, but he was just too _scared_ to make any kind of move.

"Granted, much of what happened this night was never supposed to happen," North said, glancing at the fallen body of Nightlight, then at the crack in the earth where a weakened Pitch must have fallen through – they could tell by the Snow Goose honking worriedly at the mark in the ground. He turned back to the frightened Demon God. "But there was never a possible outcome where you would have won this battle."

"Stay away," Asura said at the now-looming Guardians; even the tiny Sandman looked equally dangerous. "Stay away from me! Go away!"

"You will atone for your crimes against the order of this world," Lord Death said as he clutched one of the Kishin's scarves, pulling him closer. One of the claw-like hands gripped a piece of Asura's skin.

A sickening rip and a thunderous scream rang throughout the night, and even more blood flowed both on the ground and in the Moon's mouth. None of the Guardians turned away, and Lord Death did not even flinch until Asura's blood was fully drained and he was thrown in a sack of his own skin.

Then the Guardians turned to look at their leader lying on the ground, watching them with blue eyes that looked like an ocean, one that you could drown in if you weren't careful enough.

"I have taught you well, my children," he muttered, and fell asleep to the laugh of the Moon above him.

* * *

After Asura was trapped in an underground chamber and MiM was detained on the Moon, there was tentative peace, if only for the moment. The world was indeed shocked at the sudden change of appearance of their natural satellite, so much that many have questioned if the world they knew was ending.

But it wasn't the end yet – that Lord Death knew for sure.

Either way, it wouldn't change the condition of the Guardians, because all over the world, children were losing their belief.

Very few teeth were being collected because of the amount of mini-fairies that had perished in the battle, and the others that were miraculously alive could not fly anymore, and neither could Toothiana.

No matter how hard he tried, Sanderson found that his dreams could not console children, no matter how sweet. Nightmares roamed free, without fear of the weakening Sandman or their former master the Bogeyman, who was in a cave far unknown to mankind and impaled with the diamond dagger, the crystal blade immobilizing him for a very, very long time.

Nicholas and Aster struggled with their creations of hope and wonder. Actually, it was more of North struggling to make toys. Bunnymund couldn't do anything to help in his shrunken form. There were just not enough helpers to held North with toys for Christmastime – if the Guardians did survive to see Christmas.

They all mourned the loss of Mother Goose and Nightlight. Such brave, fearless souls who had fought their hardest against Pitch and Asura and all the darkness. They were remembered with reverence as the Guardians that they were, fierce and true.

It was unknown what had happened to Tsar Lunar after he was permanently bound to the Moon. He had not truly renounced his Guardian vows – therefore maybe he was suffering just like the rest of them, or maybe he had renounced his vow and probably was untouched by the unbelief of children.

And as for Jackson?

His powers had gotten out of control, creating an eternal winter over the Earth. The Fearling poison inside of him tore at his soul, forcing him to create blizzards and avalanches. Sometimes it would take over him and have him attack the Guardians, who were weak, almost to the point where they couldn't fight back anymore. It would make Baby Tooth prod and peck at the winter spirit, trying to snap him out of it, and for Sandy to conjure dreamsand and knock him out so that he wouldn't cause any more damage. They could tell, by the look on his sleeping face, that Jack was suffering.

They knew because they, too, were suffering.

But why were they not put out of their misery already?

Because of the last lights, shining brightly on the crumbled Globe of Belief, stubbornly refusing to go out.

Jamie and Sophie Bennett.

* * *

Mother Nature stared out at the desolate white before her. Not a sign of life in sight. The Wind whipped about, terribly upset, and Mother Nature understood.

The Guardians had not lost, but they did not win, either.

Would it be more merciful for them if the Bennetts just stopped believing, she wondered?

She lay down in the snow, staring up at the sky, listening to the Wind cry. Normally, with an average human being, they would develop hypothermia and eventually freeze to death out there. But she was Mother Nature – she and the Earth were one, and whatever happened to the world happened to her. And right now, she was feeling cold.

The Wind was not the only one that was grieving.

She remembered the Woman in the Sun's reaction when she heard the news. She wept and wept, unconsolable in her grief that they had failed – and that her Protectors were next.

Mother Nature could not help but feel warm tears sliding down her cheeks as she thought of Pitch. Or rather, Kozmotis Pitchiner, the man who had once been the greatest hero of the Golden Age. Who had once been her father.

She remembers watching her Daddy leave that day, not knowing when he would come back home with the silver locket***** around his neck – the one that she gave him, the one that he promised never to lose.

Her hands closed around the silver locket, now in her possession, and she broke down, wailing loudly, bringing frozen rain down on Earth; wishing with tears for her Daddy to come back.

* * *

**(Looking back now, that last sentence struck a nerve. If you read Chapter 112, then you'd probably understand.)**

*** - The locket is silver. _Silver._ Not gold. It says so in Bunny's book, if you look hard enough.**


	14. The Last Lights

"Wind, take me home."

It sounded more like a heartbroken man after a long day, rather than a request for Jack Frost to ride the Wind back to Burgess. The Wind itself could sense his pain, though it chose not to say anything about it (it reminded the winter spirit of Sandy, in a way), and just took him away from the rural area he was in. Snow combined with already poor and sick families left the vicinity in worse conditions than before, when the world was at real peace, when the Moon was a white pearly orb in the sky and when Nightlight and Katherine were still alive—

Jack blinked back frozen tears. It hurt too much.

When he touched down in Burgess, Jack looked around and saw the same snow, and then he realized that he could no longer enjoy travelling enjoying the world when all he saw was this damn snow and frozen water. People had to carve holes in ice now just to get clean water to drink. Suddenly even fireplaces in the home weren't enough to keep anyone warm anymore. He cursed the shadow inside of him, and he cursed that he was the spirit of frost. Please, any other ability than this, he begged in his mind.

The Wind's cries whipped through the landscape, and Jack felt a jolt of sickness. He frowned, gripped his staff tighter, and walked on, down to a house of which he knew the inhabitants very well.

When he got there, he didn't expect to see two small, bundled-up children waiting there for him.

"Jack," Jamie breathed a white puff of relief, while his little sister Sophie smiled. "Jack's home!" she said.

"Jamie! Sophie!" Jack exclaimed, running over to them. "What're you doing out here?! You could freeze to death!" Jamie looked down at his boots. "I know." "We were waitin' for you!" Sophie added.

Jack sighed. "Please go back inside your house, you two. You need to stay warm. The weather out here is getting worse and worse."

Jamie sneezed, and then asked, "What's waiting inside for us?" Jack looked at the boy's expression, and then realized what he meant. _Oh._ The sniffling that followed the sneeze sounded more like the 13-year old***** was about to cry.

"Well, kids," Jack tried to console him, "you should go someplace warmer. How about one of your friend's houses?" Jamie shook his head. "Most of them are gone. Pippa is barely getting by, and Monty is travelling in search of someplace where there isn't any snow – or at least, less snow than here."

Jack was the one to look down this time. "…I'm sorry, Jamie," he apologized. "I wish I could fix this. But something's happened to me, and…I-I'm not well."

"Where's Bunny?" Sophie looked around, shivering. "I wanna see Bunny." Jack shook his head. "Sorry, Soph, but Bunny can't come around here. He's not feeling well either."

That statement alone, though, gave Jack an idea.

"Though maybe if you come with me, I can bring you to Bunny, and the other Guardians!" he said, a look of enlightenment blossoming on his face. "I mean, it's only a bit warmer there than here, but at least it's safer for you two." Jamie looked back up at Jack, before looking back down again. "…Do you think we'll make it? I mean, Jack, I want to go, but…you're cold…and I don't think we can stand much more cold." Here the boy absentmindedly stroked his little sister's hair. She sneezed as well.

"Look, Jamie," Jack said, switching his staff from one hand to the other. "I'll never let anything happen to you, or to Sophie. I'll never let you freeze to death, _I promise._ You and Sophie…you're gonna be fine, alright? You have to believe in me."

Silence ensued between them, with the Wind blowing across the desolate town of Burgess.

"…We believe in you, Jack," Sophie answered, looking to her older brother. "Right, Jamie?"

The boy cleared his throat, gathering his courage and trust. "Yes."

"Come on, then." Jack extended his hands, and picked the two of them up, despite being heavier than they used to be.

"_It's alright,"_ the winter spirit thought to himself. _"They're gonna be alright. They're gonna be alright. Nothing will happen to them…"_

"…_right?"_

He sucked in a deep breath, then released it as he silently asked the Wind to carry him to the North Pole.

The Wind complied, and soon he was taking off like a jet, holding Jamie and Sophie closer to him than he ever had in his entire life. He felt their warmth through their clothes, and begged them in his mind to stay warm until they got back to North, and everything would be alright. They would be fine.

On the way, Jack suddenly felt jittery. A presence was overwhelming him, and then vertigo attacked.

"_No!"_ he thought, _"Not now!"_

"Jack?" Jamie asked, sensing the winter spirit's unease. "Are you alright?"

He got the answer when he heard inhuman growling coming from Jack.

"…Jack?" Sophie asked quietly. Jack brought his tongue across his lips and smiled widely.

"Are you afraid…" he looked at Sophie with bright yellow eyes, "…little girl?"

Sophie screamed as his touch became colder than ice, and Jamie gasped. "Jack! Snap out of it!" he exclaimed, grabbing on to his arm, trying to shake it and somehow bring Jack back to reality, to no avail.

"Don't worry about the cold, children…" Jack grinned even wider than before, almost literally ear-to-ear, "…because we're going to have a little fun."

In a completely white landscape, there lay three bodies, broken and bruised and cold.

Or rather, two if you didn't believe in one of them.

The blowing Wind finally got Jack to wake up, muttering a curse groggily as he tried to support himself with his arms, only to realize that he was missing his staff. He felt around for it, looking around the landscape for the only piece of wood that would ever be around here.

He finally found it in the hands of a pale, unconscious thirteen-year old boy.

"JAMIE!" Jack screamed, forgetting all about his staff – in fact, he even ripped it out of Jamie's hands and threw it somewhere else, favouring the thought of picking up the boy. "Jamie! Jamie, are you alright? Answer me! Jamie!"

He looked around. Sophie. Where was Sophie? Last he remembered, they were in his arms…and then the madness took a hold of him again. He searched the endless plain of snow for her, any sign of her.

"Jack…" Jamie moaned, "…hurts…so…cold…"

The winter spirit looked down at Jamie, then sighed. What was the point? They were struck by his insanity and cold. They would be dead by the time they got to the Guardians. All he wanted was to help them, but now was reminded of the fact that he would, and always would be, winter. The deadliest of the four seasons, the one that never gave any mercy, that froze over ponds and yet couldn't stop a boy, barely out of his youth, from falling in and drowning.

The Wind howled, blowing as hard as it could, bringing to Jack's attention a streak of yellow and green in the snow. He gasped. "SOPHIE!" he called, getting to his feet and trudging through the seven-inch layer of snow over to her. He stumbled and tripped, but it did not deter him; instead choosing to crawl as much as he could while still cradling Jamie.

"Jamie…Sophie…" he muttered, pulling Sophie close to him, and checking her pulse. For the first time, Jack Frost shivered. "Please…" he begged, "…please be alive…don't go…please…"

His blue eyes widened.

"Jack…" Jamie groaned. The winter spirit sighed. "I'm sorry, Jamie…I'm so sorry…"

"…Did Sophie…make it?" the boy asked slowly, his voice cracked, and Jack's heart stung with each word.

"…No…" he finally choked out, frozen tears starting to fall.

Jamie quivered, clinging to Jack. Jack wanted to shove Jamie off, because all he would do would freeze him to death; but stopped himself, because really, what else did Jamie have to hang on to?

"I'm sorry." Jack apologized again.

"Me too," Jamie muttered, and then he felt warm as his pulse faded.

_No._

_NO, NO, NO, NO!_

Jack shook Jamie, but it was no use.

The last lights had been snuffed out.

All that was left now was for him to die.

But as Jack expected, death would come for him slowly, leaving him to suffer in his mistakes; why did he throw his staff away? Why didn't he fly off with Jamie the moment they figured out Sophie died?

The answer was simple.

They would never have made it. They were human, after all; they were simply kids. They couldn't have handled what his evil side had dished out. They couldn't handle the cold like he did.

And now that they were gone…

Jack lay Jamie in the snow, the same way he had done with his sister, and continued to cry frozen tears, until he vanished along with the other Guardians.

The last thing Jack saw was endless white, the white that he caused, and then the black that he was forever subject to.

* * *

**(…I do not like writing death scenes. I'm sorry.**

*** - This probably takes place 5 years after the movie. I suppose that would be appropriate.)**


	15. The Final Chapter

**(A/N: …I'm not afraid of shippers emerging from this chapter, you know.)**

**I DON'T OWN ANYTHING! AND I'M PROUD TO SAY THAT I DON'T! *cheering and then sobbing hysterically***

* * *

Kid walked back into Shibusen, pondering on the many things that were happening that day. Everyone was outside in the courtyard, celebrating his coronation as a new shinigami, replacing his father as the new Lord Death.

It was kind of hard to wrap his mind (symmetrically) around, to say the least. That alone was surprising to him. And to make peace with the witches – meaning no more witch hunts. No more Death Scythes, making Soul the last of them.

(And his thoughts were _still_ revolving around breasts!)

He skated into the Death Room, smiling a bit. His skateboard reminded him of simpler times, back before the Kishin's resurrection and before his father's death.

Such blissful times…

He stepped up to the platform, looking at the mirror, at his own reflection. His gold eyes went up to the three white stripes in his hair, all interconnecting, no longer going only halfway around his head.

The new Grim Reaper. He could get used to that.

A figure appeared beside his reflection. Someone else followed him into the Death Room? He blinked, and then blushed as he realized that the first place his eyes went to was the figure's chest.

He turned around, to see the same figure still there.

Kid could sense a great soul wavelength being emitted from her, possibly almost as great as his.***** A very powerful being this was. Was she a witch? He double-checked her soul. He doubted it.

"A new Lord Death, huh…" she said, her long hair billowing in an invisible wind. Kid then realized that this Wind wasn't as invisible as he thought; it blew through all the spaces of the Death Room, encompassing it and yet staying in one place.

"So it seems." He replied. She smiled, the way a mother smiles at her child. "Where is your mask, then?" she asked, and Kid had to grin too, albeit lopsidedly. (_"Damn,"_ he thought at the lack of symmetry.) "I haven't found a way to put it on perfectly yet."

She bent down to his level, studying him. "Order," she mused, holding his shoulders. "You're so much like your father."

Kid shrugged. "That's what everyone tells me."

They were both silent for a while before she straightened up. "What will you do if the Kishin escapes the Moon and comes back to wreak havoc once again?" Kid looked up at where she was looking – the sky. "It won't happen – that I'm sure of." He answered, his faith in this fact never wavering. "But if it does, then I'll do everything in my power to stop it. We've stopped him before, we can stop him again."

Her green eyes softened. "Now you're sounding like someone that I used to know.

"Still, I'm proud of you – and I know that your father is, too."

"Wherever he is," Kid said.

"Wherever he is," she repeated.

Then with that, Mother Nature vanished with the wind, leaving Kid alone in the Death Room once again.

Kid sighed.

Maybe now he could try putting that mask on perfectly again.

* * *

Somewhere, on the other side of the continent, an old farmer paused his ploughing of his field to grab a shovel and dig a hole right in the middle of it.

There was something shining in the middle of his field, as the sunlight glinted across it. It seemed more like light was shining _from_ the small hole in the tilled ground, but nevertheless, the farmer was curious, as humans are wont to be.

Soon, as he was digging, the ground caved in, and the old farmer fell to the bedrock underneath. At first he was terrified and shocked, but then he calmed himself. He had gotten this far, why not go on ahead?

This determination was quelled once again by the shock of seeing a body in the hole, alongside him.

He screamed, and as if on cue, a ray of sunlight shone on the already-gleaming diamond dagger. Light glistened throughout the chamber, and then something made out of light leapt out of the dagger – a figure that looked almost _human_.

Almost at the same time, shadows in the cave awakened and danced around the dark-cloaked body, and he shifted. He rose, his gold eyes sparking dangerously with hate, with all the rage he contained through all these years. He thought of revenge.

The dark man hissed at the amount of sunlight seeping through the hole, and then his eyes fixed on the old farmer, who was scared out of his wits.

_Must find a body…resistant to the light…_

_Fear._

_He is afraid._

He smiled.

_Perfect._

Screams rang through the area, but none was there to hear them.

…None except the figure of light who leapt out of the diamond dagger.

* * *

**(* - Lord Death, to me, has always symbolized – what else? – death, and then I realized I could take this to a whole new level. So I made Mother Nature represent life, and in this way she and the Grim Reaper could be total opposites.**

**I'm just saying.)**

**So, without further ado, this story is ended! Granted, I wanted to make a chapter before this one, but the writing bug in me would not stop and I scrapped the idea of a filler chapter (featuring WiS and her Protectors) in favour of this idea. Would you believe I finished this after reading Chapter 113 (and before the previous chapter, too)?**

**Thank you for reading!**


	16. Preview

**(A/N: And after all this...have a preview!)**

* * *

"Going to bed, Maka."

"Alright. Good night, Soul."

After her weapon retreated into his room, there was silence around her. Maka stared out the window, absently stroking Blair's fur; the cat was asleep in her lap. There were hardly any stars in the sky, and even though there were just a few, Maka thought these twinkling lights were a cold comfort as Maka stared at the blackened moon.

"_I was so happy...that you really came to somewhere like this for me..."_

"_I just want to pay you back, Maka. You just gave me courage after all."_

"_I simply want to fight for you, Maka."_

"_I believe in you."_

"Crona..." Maka muttered before falling asleep herself.

* * *

The moment she closed her eyes, a bright light flashed across the night sky, rivalling the light of the stars for a split second.

If one had a telescope, they would have seen that the light wasn't a shooting star at all, but a figure of light.

The spectral girl flew high above the buildings, watching and waiting. She wanted to fight the large Shadow as soon as it was revived, but she knew she couldn't handle anymore staying in Pitch's cold heart, freezing the evil in him and thaw the good in him, leaving him unable to move until she escaped through the sunlight.

(Someone she knew was much better at it than her.)

The diamond dagger hung on her belt, waiting for an opportunity to be used.

"Must find help," her voice echoed through the night.

* * *

Maka walked around, wondering where she was. She seemed to be walking on the ceiling of an old house, for all the things that could be identified as furniture were above her, upside down.

"Hello?" she asked to no one in particular. When no one answered, the meister sighed and sat under – maybe over – the window.

All of a sudden, a glow from outside caused Maka to look up. The night had never been this bright, she thought to herself. When she looked out the window, something caught her attention.

Instead of being covered in black, the Moon was full and round and colored a milky white, shining brighter than ever before. A friendly, smiling face seemed to be painted on its surface.

Maka gaped. She had never seen the Moon like this before. From what she had read in some books, the only time the Moon had been like this was before the Kishin was sealed away under Shibusen—

_Creak._

Maka looked up. Someone was moving closer to her. So she wasn't so alone after all. What sounded like boots clacked on the wooden ceiling, closing the distance between them faster and considered fighting against this stranger, but then she saw his face – something in his eyes convinced her that he meant no harm.

He fell in front of her, begging and weeping spontaneously. "Please," she heard him say, "please help me..."

"What?" she asked. "Wh-who are you?"

"Help me, please," he went on, "Maka."

"Maka!"

* * *

Her green eyes snapped open, and then she yawned. Had she fallen asleep...?

"Good, you're awake," Soul said, putting his hands in his pockets. "Sleeping in isn't cool at all; at least, that's what you tell me all the time. Come on, we're gonna be late."

Maka looked down at her feet for a while, pondering the dream she had just had.

"Who was..." she trailed off.

"Who was what?"

"...No, nothing." She shook her head and stood up, getting her clothes while Soul left the room.

No use getting worked up about it; it was just a harmless dream, after all...right?

* * *

Somewhere very, very far away, another figure smiled as they felt Maka's soul response.

"...Found you..."


End file.
